Love of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) is one of the basic principles of faith, and it is accompanied by love of Allah (may He be glorified and exalted). Allah has issued a warning to the one who gives precedence over that to any of the things to which one may have a natural inclination to love, such as family, wealth, homeland and the like, as He says: {Say, [O Muhammad], ‘If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your relatives, wealth which you have obtained, commerce wherein you fear decline, and dwellings with which you are pleased are more beloved to you than Allah and His Messenger and jihad in His cause, then wait until Allah executes His command} [at-Tawbah 9:24]. The believer is not a believer in the perfect sense until he gives precedence to love of the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) over love of anyone else. Love of the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) stems from love of the One Who sent him. Sound love dictates following the beloved and loving what he loves, and hating what he hates. Love means going along with the beloved in all situations. If this love is sincere, it must inevitably make one follow the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and adhere to his Sunnah. The sign of loving the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) is that if obeying the commands of the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) conflicts with any other inclination or person that would prompt one to do otherwise, one gives precedence to obeying the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and complying with his commands over the other thing. This is an indication that one’s love for the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) is sound. But if one gives precedence to going along with any of these other things that one has a natural inclination to love over obeying the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and complying with his commands, this indicates that he has not attained the perfect faith that is required of him. Part of loving the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) is supporting his Sunnah and defending his message, and wishing that one had lived during his lifetime so that he could have offered his life and his wealth to protect him. This love is not sound until one holds the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in high esteem and gives him precedence over any parent, child, person who did one a favour or person whom one likes. This hadith is very concise, because these few words carry a great deal of meaning. That is because there are three types of love: love based on respect and veneration, such as love of a parent; love based on compassion and mercy, such as love of a child; and love that results from liking someone and finding that one has much in common with him, such as love of any other person. This hadith refers to all the reasons why one person may love another..